Privileged?

Privilege

I am privileged.?So are you.?As I build out these stories, I sift and sort through hundreds of old photos, trying to figure out which ones have stories to tell.?(They all do, of course).

But I can’t help but realize that they also show off my privilege.?I was a doctor’s son.?My mother had her own antique business.?We lived in a nice house next to Firestone Park in a small town.?We took annual vacations.?

I attended University (OSU), had my own car, and was selected to serve Dean John T. Mount (a key figure in the 1970s Ohio State riots) as an administrative assistant.

I got jobs in Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland and DC. I got to work in my preferred career.?I married the perfect wife and had two sons of whom I’m inestimably proud. I was sufficiently mobile that I shifted careers and became tops in my field.?I wrote seven books.?I have amazing health care.

Privilege, privilege, privilege, privilege, privilege, privilege, privilege, privilege.

And while many would consider this a lesson in a privileged life well lived, it’s actually a function of a life well-lived.?For any of the positives, there are challenges that led to it.

I almost died at age 11 from meningitis.?At 20, my Journalism professor told me I’d never get a job in radio.?I went into anaphylactic shock at 22.?I crushed my skull in a moped accident at 33. I was diagnosed with incurable neuroendocrine liver cancer at 63.??My cars died, blew up, and broke down.?My father talked seriously of disowning me, and writing me out of the will.?

That does not sound like privilege.?

But it is.?

Whether it’s work or home life, there are privileges.?My father, the doctor, never lavished me with cash.?I’ve known what it’s like to have the phone disconnected for non-payment and to see NSF (non-sufficient funds) come back stamped on a check.?My one apartment had roaches and mice, and I’ve made the “heat or eat” decisions.?I hitchhiked for weeks because my car died.?

Oddly enough, those are moments of privilege.?I understand what it’s like to try to put your life together from scratch, and it’s an amazing opportunity (although I confess that it doesn’t feel like it at the time).?Some would not consider those events and situations as privileged.?I would suggest that they don’t understand what “privilege” really means.?The root of the word (in the Latin) comes from a special, personal right or honor bestowed on a single individual.?There’s no such thing as “group privilege” if you look at the actual roots of the word.?And because it’s singular to you, you alone determine whether or not it provides you with an edge or an opportunity.???

You have an entire life that it unique to you. And you get to determine where it takes you.

At work, you get to determine how you’ll respond to challenges, just as you get to determine how you react to positive highlights.?The client says you don’t have the skill set they’re looking for.?You can respond with a sense of failure, or you can respond by becoming an authority in that skill set.?(That’s actually how I became the Risk Guy).?If someone else is defining how privileged you are, you can turn that around by—

·??????Writing a book on the subject

·??????Becoming a speaker on the topic

·??????Researching the issue until you are encyclopedic on it

·??????Offering your services in that area until they’re worth getting paid for

·??????Traveling to some remote corner of the world to learn about it

It takes time, but you are eventually going to be truly going to be a specialist in that area.?Specialization is something of high value.?And it’s a trait where you can grant yourself privilege.? (You can do training in a crowded classroom or on a cruise ship...and oddly enough, the cruise is normally CHEAPER). It's a choice. When you grant yourself a choice, you grant yourself privilege.

Some of you are certified.?PMP?, PMI-RMP?, CSM, CISSP, CRISC…M-O-U-S-E…

Poof!?

Privilege.

Carl, I can’t afford to chase those certifications down.?The classes are expensive, as are the applications!

Many of my peers in the project management community did self-study to earn their certification.?The exam fee was something they saved for.?And many have taken full advantage of their uniqueness by reaching out to their circle of friends for best tricks and tips to survive the certification process.?

The same applies to virtually all aspects of our lives.?If you woke up this morning breathing and ambulatory, you are likely capable of almost anything.?(If you want the movie version of that thought, it’s The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith).?You have privilege.?

The other interesting aspect of privilege is that it is a granted right.?Who grants it??You do.?You have the amazing privilege of granting yourself opportunity.?Back when I worked in radio (WASH-FM, Washington, DC), I was complaining about my lack of privilege with a co-worker, David Burd.?He replied, If you want more money then you should make more.

I thought that was an easy (read: privileged) statement from someone who wore Armani (or similar) suits and had perfectly coiffed hair.?He was speaking from a position of privilege.?In retrospect, he was speaking from a position of someone who understood privilege.?He created it.?He found creative ways to achieve his financial goals.?He did have privilege, but it was self-granted.?

We should all take stock of our individual privilege.?We should look at what we value and how we value it.?We should assess what matters to us, and if it’s lacking in our lives, we should fill our life with it.?Only we can determine how we respond to challenges and downturns in our lives, in our work, and on our projects.?Do we see them as setbacks??Or privileges??If we opt for the latter, our futures are unbridled.?

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Carl Pritchard is the principal of Pritchard Management Associates, a training and consulting firm based in Lavale, Maryland.?He provides powerful presentations for his clients on a wide variety of topics, from project management to risk to communications.?And he’s a very funny guy.?[email protected]

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